As soon as you enter the third decade of your life, you start getting more advices than birthday gifts and surprises. They will tell you how to dress better for your age, how to save more, and how to plan your future, but no one will tell you the smaller things that are capable of making and breaking your life in the near and far future.
However, fret not; we are here with our homework for you to turn 30s in the most financially convenient way.
1. Learn to file your own income tax returns. It is the biggest gift you can give to yourself at this age. Never completely rely on another person for this one thing, even if you know they are an expert. You must know how it is done, even if you do not always do it by yourself.
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2. If you have not already, please start investing. Saving money and keeping it aside is not enough if you want to make more money with your existing money.
3. Keep a percentage equal to your age aside for safe investments, and keep increasing it every year with your age, i.e., you do not invest this portion in the stock market. So for instance, if you are 31, keep 31% safe, if you are 33, keep 33% safe, and so on.
4. Admit that you are not the bank to friends and family. Set up an upper limit when it comes to loaning out money, because right now, you are not qualified to be that large-hearted king.
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5. Learn to avoid the ‘oops, I forgot my wallet again’ friends. You cannot afford to be paying their bills all the time. Use that money to do something better, like buying a successful share.
6. Save for making your own home. Property is the smartest investment that there is. Once you have your own house, half of your future security worries have been dealt with.
7. Start investing a little bit for retirement plans. As hard as it must be to accept, but you’re over 30 now, and you need to have a retirement plan in place, because we’re the unlucky generation that doesn’t get the pension benefits like our fathers and grandfathers.
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8. Save and invest some for your passions or long-forgotten hobbies. Buy that electric guitar you could not buy because you were repaying your study loan, or convert your study room finally into your personal library that you always wanted! Sometimes investment in yourself gives the best returns.
9. Make a ‘Rich in 15 years’ Fund. Set aside 10% for this fund every month and invest in a well-researched area from where you will get the maximum returns.
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10. As boring as you may find it, make friends with your investment consultant/CA. Discuss with them, raise doubts, be inquisitive. The two biggest benefits of this are: i. you will get to learn financial aspects of your income, and ii. you will always be aware of what is being done of your hard-earned money.
Keep calm, you are turning 30. Also, share with us your own experiences of tackling your financial health post 30 in the comments section.